Disclaimer: Hakuouki belongs to Hiraku Naki

Chizuru's heart skipped a beat.

Harada, Shinpachi and Heisuke were leaning against the table; Saito was in the far corner, his face expressionless as usual; Sannan-san gave her a small smile of reassurance, which did not help at all; Okita lounged by the fireplace, casually tossing a knife in his hand and Hijikata - well, Hijikata just glowered.

Already, she was regretting her decision.

The group regarded her without speaking, and Chizuru shrank a little inside her yukata. In the complete silence, all that could be heard was the sound of Okita's knife being tossed and catched.

Swish, thud.

Swish, thud.

Swish, -

The knife clattered to the ground and Chizuru jumped. Unperturbed, Okita stood, languidly dusting off his hands.

"Chizuru-chan," he drawled, "What happened to your clothes?"

"Er, um, well," Chizuru struggled for words.

"Why don't you start with what you were doing last night?" Harada asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"Um…" was her only reply.

"You know," Shinpachi said slyly, "we heard an intruder last night in the courtyard. The noise woke all of us up and we were about to investigate; trespassing on Shinsengumi is punishable by death, did you know that?"

What little blood there was left drained from Chizuru's face.

"Might you possibly have a clue what we are talking about?" Okita asked, the knife back in his hands.

"I - I'm sorry!" Chizuru cried, "I just - well, I just couldn't resist the snow and - "

"Enough," Hijikata interrupted, "You've had your fun and she's clearly learned her lesson."

"Fun?" she glowered at Okita, "Do you like scaring people half to death?"

"Chizuru-chan," Sannan-san chided, "They have a point. Your actions threatened not just your own, but the safety of everyone."

"Oh come on," Okita said cheerfully as he guided her shivering figure to the fire, "What did you think we were going to do, kill you?"

"Maybe…" Chizuru mumbled.

"Really," Heisuke said as he settled beside her, "You should lighten up."

"Despite how we look, we don't kill without reason," Saito reminded her.

"Although we have killed for less," Harada informed her brightly with a wink.

They continued to chat as they hung her wet clothes in front of the fireplace. Slowly, her hair went from wet to damp and her goosebumps-covered skin became smooth again.

"Well, time to wake the men," Shinpachi announced a while later, "see you at breakfast!" Shinpachi, as well as Harada and Heisuke took their leave.

"You can play outside Chizuru-chan, just not at night," Saito told her with a slight smile as he left. Okita followed soon after, ruffling her hair playfully on his way out.

"See?" Sannan-san said as he knelt beside her, "It wasn't that bad, though I apologize for scaring you on their behalf." With a final kind smile, he returned to his lab to work on some new theory he had about counteracting the negative side effects of the Ochimizu.

Finally, it was just Hijikata left.